JFK and the Cuban Missile CrisisJFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis. What was probably the closest time in which the world reached the brink of nuclear war was in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Known in former Communist countries like the Soviet Union, Korea, and China as the Caribbean Crisis and in Cuba itself as the October Crisis, this extremely tense moment in history should not be forgotten. The reasons for the nuclear stand off between the United States of America, the Soviet Union, and Cuba are many, but thankfully the diplomacy of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and American President John F. Kennedy among others, saved the world from possible all-out nuclear war. A look into JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis will also aid readers in understanding general foreign policy among these nations. Causes of the Cuban Missile CrisisPrior EventsCorporations from the United States had large stakes in natural resources such as rubber, sugar, oil, and fruit in South America. In order to keep these supplies secure, the United States sometimes interfered indirectly with the political processes in South American countries. In Cuba itself, American companies controlled a large majority of Cuba’s utilities, mines, cattle ranches, and oil refineries, and controlled about half of the sugar industry and public railways (Zinn, p.439). When Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara successfully overthrew the Batista dictatorship in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution of the late 1950s, they introduced a new set of laws. Land reform laws were the most severe of all, especially for large American corporations like United Fruit, known today as the Chiquita brand. The new laws put into place by Castro and Guevara effectively confiscated over a million acres of land from American companies. In retaliation, the United States decided to drastically cut sugar imports from Cuba. This large quantity was then purchased by the Soviet Union, strengthening Soviet-Cuban relations. The United States did not appreciate a country so close to its border championing the Communist cause. So, in 1960, then President Eisenhower secretly commissioned the CIA to train and equip 1,400 Cuban exiles for a future offensive on Cuba (Chayes, p.37). When John F. Kennedy became President in 1961, he allowed the plans to continue. There is much more information about JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis than was made public at the time. On April 17, 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion took place, in which the CIA-trained militants were soundly defeated by the Guevara-trained Cuban army. This event directly contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis.JFK and the Cuban Missile CrisisAfter the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, relations between the US and Cuba worsened. President Kennedy had important meetings with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and the Joint Chiefs of Staff about what to do. When the Joint Chiefs unanimously agreed that a full-scale invasion of Cuba was the only viable solution, but McNamara disagreed, President Kennedy had to make the call. He decided that a naval blockade of Cuba was the best choice. This was the first major decision of JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Instead of a full-on invasion of the island, he took a more moderate approach.Kennedy Talks to KhrushchevOver the course of this series of events, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev exchanged multiple telegrams and indirect messages (Dobbs, p.144). Some historians speculate that the Soviet Union placed the missiles in Cuba in the first place as retaliation for the US having missiles in Turkey, very close to the Soviet border. This proved to be true, as can be seen from the nature of the conversations between Kennedy and Khrushchev. The Soviet Union wanted the US to publicly promise that it would not ever invade Cuba, and that the US would remove its missiles from Turkey. The US wanted the Soviet Union to dismantle and remove the missiles from Cuba. There were many factors to deal with for JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis.Final Events and ResolutionWhile Kennedy and Khrushchev were discussing the crisis, Fidel Castro was urging the Soviet Union to use the nuclear missiles in Cuba against the United States. Despite these requests, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev made a secret agreement to take out all missiles in Turkey and Cuba. As a result, Khrushchev announced the removal of the missiles from Cuba, much to the disappointment of Che Guevara. For JFK on the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time of relative peace was at hand. Notes on JFK and the Cuban Missile CrisisWhile President Kennedy was praised for steering the United States clear of nuclear war, the presence of US missiles so close to the Soviet homeland may have precipitated the occurrence of the Cuban Missile Crisis. While very tense, this was not the only stressed time during the Cold War.Search for more detailed info in HAVANA-GUIDE 
Custom Search
|